Prophets Of Islam

With the creation of humans, ALLAH SWT appointed messengers to guide them. Allah sent many Prophets in different times to guide mankind. The first prophet was Adam a.s. ALLAH swt taught him the things which were never taught to anyone. This was his unique status because of which all the angels prostrated before him and shytan got cursed forever and ever. There is a sahih tradition of prophet Muhammad pbuh according to which all prophets are related.

Bukhari Volume 4, Book 55, Number 651:

Narrated Abu Huraira:
I heard Allah's Apostle saying, "I am the nearest of all the people to the son of Mary, and all the prophets are paternal brothers, and there has been no prophet between me and him (i.e. Jesus)."

This indicates that all the prophets were paternal brothers i.e. their fathers were relatives from paternal side. This also means that the linage of all the prophets is one. ALLAHU ALAM.

While in another sahih tradition of prophet Muhammad pbuh, it is stated that;

Muslim, Book 030, Number 5835:
Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying: I am most akin to Jesus Christ among the whole of mankind, and all the Prophets are of different mothers but belong to one religion and no Prophet was raised between me and Jesus.

This hadith also indicates the same thing. Another thing is that between prophet Muhammad pbuh and ESA a.s, no other prophet came. So the time period in between witnessed no other prophet. From these ahadith, another important point is raised that Jews, who were waiting for a prophet to come after Moses first disbelieved Esa a.s and than in their utter arrogance, they disbelieved prophet Muhammad pbuh because they were expecting a messenger from their nation. Bani Israel is the only nation which received most number of messengers than other nations. Prophet Esa a.s also came to bani Israel who was denied by them because of their ignorance and jahiliyah.

The pagans of Arabia believed in ALLAH but also they had made their own gods out of ignorance. The messenger of Arabs was Ismael a.s, son of ibrahim a.s. After Ismael a.s, came prophet Muhammad pbuh in arabs.

According to the tradition of sahih muslim,

Muslim, Book 020, Number 4543:
It has been narrated by Abu Huraira that the Holy Prophet (may pceace be upon him) said: Banu Isra'il were ruled over by the Prophets. When one Prophet died, another succeeded him; but after me there is no prophet and there will be caliphs and they will be quite large in number. His Companions said: What do you order us to do (in case we come to have more than one Caliph)? He said: The one to whom allegiance is sworn first has a supremacy over the others. Concede to them their due rights (i. e. obey them). God (Himself) will question them about the subjects whom He had entrusted to them.

Thus, the last prophet of Islam is Muhammad pbuh and there would be no other prophet. While this hadith also confirms that bani Israel received the most prophets. Still, this nation remained the most stubborn. And we see that even today, Israel is the only nation with arrogance.

ALLAh swt sent many messengers, according to a weak tradition, ALLAh swt sent one hundred and twenty four thousand messengers in total. While according to the scholars, the total number remains unknown. In Glorious Quran, ALLAH swt say;

4:164 (We sent inspiration to) the messengers We have mentioned to you earlier, and (also to) the messengers We never mentioned to you. (But) with Musa, Allah spoke directly _ (not just through angels, or by inspiration).

In Holy Quran, ALLAH swt has told us about few messengers while few of the messengers, as extracted by the scholars, from torah and bible. But since these scriptures are not the authentic text, so great scrutiny and care has been taken by the scholars in this regard.

According to this verse, the only messenger who spoke to ALLAH swt directly without any medium is Moses a.s. No other messenger ever had this privilege. While, after Adam a.s, the other messenger who led the humanity again was prophet Nuh a.s. In his era, came the biggest and most destructive flood which washed away virtually everything on eath. Prophet Esa a.s. Is the only prophet who was born without male intervention and he was the only prophet who was given prophet-hood in his childhood. Prophets Yusuf , zulqurnain and Suleiman (a.s) were the biggest and strongest kings.

While, prophet dawood a.s had such a beautiful that even bird and mountains used to listen to his voice attentively. The prophet who had the most beauty was prophet Yusuf a.s. It is mentioned in holy Quran that women cut their fingers when they saw him in his splendid beauty. Prophet Yunus a.s. Was swallowed by a whale and according to some historians, the place where he was taken off shore was the seashore of Makran, Pakistan. The prophet Dawood a.s. Was given this unique power of molding iron and he was the first one to make chain mails.

All the messengers brought the same message, i.e. the message of islam. All messengers preached that only One GOD is to be worshipped and there should be no other worthy of worship.

For muslim, one thing is must to believe in, that is, they have to believe in all the messengers. And they have to respect all of them. Islam is the only religion which puts this condition, if not met, a person cannot be a muslim no matter how much he worships ALLAH.

2:285 The messenger believes in whatever is revealed to him by his Lord; so do the believers! They all believe in Allah, His angels, (all) His scriptures, and (all) His messengers. (They say), “We do not differentiate between any of His messengers!” And they say, “We hear, and we obey. (We do seek) Your forgiveness, Our lord! And towards You is our journey’s end!”

thus, all messengers came with the same message but their message contained more commandments according to the need of the time. Prophet Muhammad pbuh came in the last and he pbuh was the final so he was given the final scripture which contains the message for all and for everything. This message will remain fresh till the last day. I hope you enjoyed the Introduction of Prophets of Islam.